Inside the fridges of five top New York chefs.(Interviews have been Condensed and edited.)+++
Kyle Knall
Chef, Maysville
Signature Dish: Hay-Roasted OystersQ: What are your fridge essentials?A: There's an American-style Parmesan. It holds for a long time because it's dried, and it's great to cook with. Other than lemons, it's the one ingredient that has to be in there.Q: I couldn't help noticing the PBR. Do you like the taste or the price?A: I like PBR because it's light and refreshing. My dad worked for Miller when I was a kid, and in my house there was only Miller Lite. When I worked at Gramercy, we always kept a six-pack behind the bar for whenever he visited. He would probably bring himself to drink a PBR, if he had to.Q: What's another constant in your fridge?A: There's always chicken soup. It's basically my mom's recipe. It's really easy to make, just vegetables and quality chicken.Q: Are those homemade dumplings in your freezer?A: No, no. They're from my favorite dumpling house in Chinatown, Prosperity Dumpling. I can steam them for about four minutes and have dinner. I'm really intrigued by food that doesn't remind me of work.+++Bryce Shuman
Chef, Betony
Signature Dish: Grilled Short Rib With Potato and Baby LeeksQ: How was it having someone take photos of your refrigerator?A: I felt like I was on a porno shoot. It was all: "Move this. Now show me that." I was pretty uncomfortable.Q: I noticed some blue tape on the fridge door.A: That's because I have a cat named Bud. There's roast beef in the fridge, so I have to tape the door shut. We went out of town once, and I was dry-aging a duck in there. When we came back, the place was permeated with the smell of death. The fridge is open, the duck is on the ground, half ripped apart, and the cat is looking really nonchalant. "What? I got the duck, so what?"Q: What's the oldest thing in your fridge?A: I have a bottle of hot sauce that my wife gave to me when we first met. I do not lie, it's called Holy S -- t.Q: How has it lasted so long?A: It's just too hot. I remember working at Postrio around 2003, and I brought in this hot sauce, and this badass Latino food runner named Raoul put it all over his roasted chicken. His face turned purple, and he had to go home. So yeah, it's still in my fridge.+++Einat Admony
Chef, Balaboosta
Signature Dish: Fried Olives With LabneQ: Your fridge is well stocked with vegetables. Do your kids need convincing?A: My kids are actually very serious meat eaters. They love steaks and chicken and fish. But we're starting to get them more interested in vegetables. You just have to be creative about it. Make a Bolognese with soft tomatoes or sauté broccoli rabe with garlic, chile and preserved lemon olive oil.Q: It doesn't seem as if you have many leftovers in your fridge. Is this unusual?A: We don't want anything in there getting moldy and forgotten. My husband comes from a French family, but they also lived in Africa for seven years, so he's very aware of waste. And I grew up with an Iranian mom in Israel who wouldn't throw anything in the garbage -- anything. When she would break an egg, she used to take her thumb and scrape out all of the egg white. I remember when I came to New York and I started to do that at a restaurant, the chef looked at me like, Wow, that's interesting.+++Amanda Freitag
Chef and owner, Empire Diner
Signature dish: Greek Salad With Cucumber, Feta and MintQ: What's your policy regarding expiration dates?A: Mistakes have been made. There are cheeses that have stayed too long. You probably don't want to look in the crisper drawer. There's a wasabi-flavored Kit Kat bar that somebody brought me from Japan, which I probably won't eat.Q: Any tips on how to best utilize space in a really tiny fridge?A: Don't overpurchase. You can't get sucked into those sales where you buy 10 of something. It's also about prepping. It's just like restaurant work. Prep it, and then hold it.Q: What meal do you cook most at home?A: I only make breakfast. That's it. Space is one reason, and the restaurant I just opened is about two months old, so most of my eating goes on there. I find ways to make breakfast interesting. There's a white to-go box in the fridge that I brought home from the restaurant. I was experimenting with these Greek lemon potatoes, and I decided to see what would happen if they sat a few more days and marinated. I sautéed them a little and I put them with some eggs, and they were delicious."I'm really into instant photography and Polaroids. So I've got stacks of film in the fridge." © 2014 The New York Times
Photo source: Thinkstock
Kyle Knall
Chef, Maysville
Signature Dish: Hay-Roasted OystersQ: What are your fridge essentials?A: There's an American-style Parmesan. It holds for a long time because it's dried, and it's great to cook with. Other than lemons, it's the one ingredient that has to be in there.Q: I couldn't help noticing the PBR. Do you like the taste or the price?A: I like PBR because it's light and refreshing. My dad worked for Miller when I was a kid, and in my house there was only Miller Lite. When I worked at Gramercy, we always kept a six-pack behind the bar for whenever he visited. He would probably bring himself to drink a PBR, if he had to.Q: What's another constant in your fridge?A: There's always chicken soup. It's basically my mom's recipe. It's really easy to make, just vegetables and quality chicken.Q: Are those homemade dumplings in your freezer?A: No, no. They're from my favorite dumpling house in Chinatown, Prosperity Dumpling. I can steam them for about four minutes and have dinner. I'm really intrigued by food that doesn't remind me of work.+++Bryce Shuman
Chef, Betony
Signature Dish: Grilled Short Rib With Potato and Baby LeeksQ: How was it having someone take photos of your refrigerator?A: I felt like I was on a porno shoot. It was all: "Move this. Now show me that." I was pretty uncomfortable.Q: I noticed some blue tape on the fridge door.A: That's because I have a cat named Bud. There's roast beef in the fridge, so I have to tape the door shut. We went out of town once, and I was dry-aging a duck in there. When we came back, the place was permeated with the smell of death. The fridge is open, the duck is on the ground, half ripped apart, and the cat is looking really nonchalant. "What? I got the duck, so what?"Q: What's the oldest thing in your fridge?A: I have a bottle of hot sauce that my wife gave to me when we first met. I do not lie, it's called Holy S -- t.Q: How has it lasted so long?A: It's just too hot. I remember working at Postrio around 2003, and I brought in this hot sauce, and this badass Latino food runner named Raoul put it all over his roasted chicken. His face turned purple, and he had to go home. So yeah, it's still in my fridge.+++Einat Admony
Chef, Balaboosta
Signature Dish: Fried Olives With LabneQ: Your fridge is well stocked with vegetables. Do your kids need convincing?A: My kids are actually very serious meat eaters. They love steaks and chicken and fish. But we're starting to get them more interested in vegetables. You just have to be creative about it. Make a Bolognese with soft tomatoes or sauté broccoli rabe with garlic, chile and preserved lemon olive oil.Q: It doesn't seem as if you have many leftovers in your fridge. Is this unusual?A: We don't want anything in there getting moldy and forgotten. My husband comes from a French family, but they also lived in Africa for seven years, so he's very aware of waste. And I grew up with an Iranian mom in Israel who wouldn't throw anything in the garbage -- anything. When she would break an egg, she used to take her thumb and scrape out all of the egg white. I remember when I came to New York and I started to do that at a restaurant, the chef looked at me like, Wow, that's interesting.+++Amanda Freitag
Chef and owner, Empire Diner
Signature dish: Greek Salad With Cucumber, Feta and MintQ: What's your policy regarding expiration dates?A: Mistakes have been made. There are cheeses that have stayed too long. You probably don't want to look in the crisper drawer. There's a wasabi-flavored Kit Kat bar that somebody brought me from Japan, which I probably won't eat.Q: Any tips on how to best utilize space in a really tiny fridge?A: Don't overpurchase. You can't get sucked into those sales where you buy 10 of something. It's also about prepping. It's just like restaurant work. Prep it, and then hold it.Q: What meal do you cook most at home?A: I only make breakfast. That's it. Space is one reason, and the restaurant I just opened is about two months old, so most of my eating goes on there. I find ways to make breakfast interesting. There's a white to-go box in the fridge that I brought home from the restaurant. I was experimenting with these Greek lemon potatoes, and I decided to see what would happen if they sat a few more days and marinated. I sautéed them a little and I put them with some eggs, and they were delicious."I'm really into instant photography and Polaroids. So I've got stacks of film in the fridge." © 2014 The New York Times
Photo source: Thinkstock
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